Orange Blossom's Mirror Team
by Jacob R. Davis
Summary: Orange Blossom looked at her reflection, swearing not to be scared. Now, she'll deal with the prospect of being doubly mared...so to speak. However, with a great decision, comes great responsibility. [Expansion packs planned for in-depth stories relating to this one]
1. Prologue

_**DISCLAIMER  
**_ _The author claims ABSOLUTELY NO OWNERSHIP of any indicia, characters, or miscellaneous elements, that are not the product of his imagination. To see a list of original characters created by the author for this fan-fiction story, please consult the main FFN profile page._

 _ **ORANGE BLOSSOM'S MIRROR TEAM  
**_ _ **A STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE / MY LITTLE PONY FAN-FICTION**_

 _Written in Apple Pages by Jacob Davis_

 _ **PROLOGUE**_

The Legend of the Mirror Pool.

A legend that led one pony to make a severe mistake.

Pinkamena Diane Pie had made a great many copies of herself with this legend in mind, leading to a massive catastrophe that ultimately led to a test. Pinkie had learned her lesson then.

Now, in Berry Bitty City, a simple storekeeper had gotten wind of the situation, and that sparked an idea.

But, with such an idea, there must also come some bold decisions. Orange Blossom didn't want to make the same mistakes Pinkie Pie made. She made the bold decision.

And with that, came the start of a new prospect for her.

 _ **"And into her own reflection, she stared,**_

 _ **"Yearning for one whose reflection she shared,**_

 _ **"And solemnly swear'd not to be scared**_

 _ **"At the prospect of being doubly mare'd."**_

Orange made the bold decision, and decided to ultimately pull through.

This is the story of the "mirror team" she established.


	2. The Beginning

_**ORANGE BLOSSOM'S MIRROR TEAM  
**_ _ **A STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE / MY LITTLE PONY FAN-FICTION  
**_ _ **WRITTEN IN APPLE PAGES**_

 _ **CHAPTER ONE  
**_ _The Beginning_

Orange Blossom was busy in her general store in Berry Bitty City, and it was quite a busy day. However, it was also the coldest the country had on record. Winter apparel and various winter trimmings were being cleared out of the Orange Market at a rate that would make one's head spin. And, to be frank, her head was spinning to no end.

By the time she closed up shop and went to bed, she was sweating all over. She even turned green with nausea from the massive amount of customers she dealt with in such a short space of time. Even though the store was only open seven hours a day, she never expected such a large amassing of people to clamor around her as they came in, searched around for whatever gear they could to last the rest of the cold season, paid up, and went out.

The entire process in itself was a vicious cycle.

The next day, she decided to talk to Strawberry Shortcake about it.

"Strawberry, I don't know exactly how much _longer_ I can take this!" she explained. "It's like they're looting my store like a bank or something!"

Her red-haired friend smiled back down at her. "It'll be fine, Orange. You'll see."

Orange, however, was unfazed by Strawberry's remark. "How am I supposed to handle all those people all by myself? It'll be _next year_ before I'm finished with everyone's orders!"

Strawberry face-palmed. She knew this would be hard for Orange to understand.

"Well," Strawberry told her, "if you had a twin sister help you out in the shop, maybe your workload would be reduced. Two people can work faster, by the way."

That thought put Orange Blossom into a trance.

 _ **"...if you had a twin..."**_

That was the first thing that echoed through her mind. A twin?

 _ **"...Two people can work faster..."**_

Then, it hit her like a wall. A twin. In fact, a whole team of twins, each one of them skilled in various practices. She smiled at the thought, and left without saying anything. Strawberry had a perplexed look on her face. "What kind of crazy idea did I just give her?"

Orange Blossom had heard the reports on the news earlier in the week that Pinkie Pie made many copies of herself, in order to distribute herself across Equestria. However, Orange knew the risks she was taking. In addition, she vowed never to make the same mistakes Pinkie Pie made using the Mirror Pool. She got into her truck and drove to Ponyville's city limits. When she got near Fluttershy's cottage, she turned off into the Everfree Forest.

It was a long drive. But, when she got to the entrance to the cave that housed the mirror pool, she stopped. She felt like the bottom dropped out of her stomach. She even gone so far as to question why she was doing this in the first place. What if...

She shook her head, driving contradictory thoughts out of her mind. Now was the time to make this work.

To put it another way, it was time to "nut up or shut up."

She went into the cave, and stopped at the pool. She had a challenge to face, she knew that, but one person just wasn't enough. She went up to the pool and looked upon her own reflection. She then took out her notepad and began to recite the very words that would send her on a major journey of multiplicity.

 _ **"And into her own reflection she stared,**_

 _ **Yearning for one whose reflection she shared,**_

 _ **And solemnly swear'd not to be scared**_

 _ **At the prospect of being doubly mare'd."**_

As Orange recited the words, they echoed around her like a fast-spreading wildfire. The mirror pool began to twinkle, then to spark. Slowly, carefully, her reflection started to take shape, and then began to climb out of the pool, becoming a real, live clone. A mirror of herself. Exactly the same.

"Hello," Orange said to her first copy.

"Hello," the copy said back. "Who am I? And, how did I get here?"

"You're an exact copy of me," Orange replied, attempting to explain. "Personally, I'd call you...a mirror."

"A...mirror?" the copy said.

"Yes," Orange said back. "I'm Orange Blossom."

The copy looked dumbfounded then. She didn't have a name yet, as she was created moments ago.

"Orange," the copy began, "I...don't really have a name..." She shied away, as if to hide herself.

Orange gave this a thought, then decided. "I'll name you Rix."

"Doesn't sound like much," the copy said, "but I'll take the name. Rix it is."

Back in Berry Bitty City, everyone was awaiting Orange's return. Sure enough, Orange's truck was seen on the horizon. When it stopped in the town square, everyone was waiting for her.

"I think she went through with one of those crazy schemes," Raspberry Torte said.

"I don't think it's crazy," Plum Pudding retorted. "She may have gotten the idea from..."

Plum stopped talking as soon as the doors opened. Sure enough, two Orange Blossoms climbed out. Strawberry's mouth was agape. Plum had to blink twice to see if her vision was failing. There were various forms of disbelief as both of them made their way back to the Orange Market.

"So, do you know how everything works here?" Orange asked. She never knew if memory would be copied between mirrors, but if it was, then maybe they'd be synchronized.

Her suspicions were already confirmed. Rix was already hard at work, stocking the shelves. At that moment, Orange knew that her mirror would be useful to help her around the shop, not only for stocking, but for a second cashier should she be overloaded. They would both find out tomorrow.


	3. The Day After

_**ORANGE BLOSSOM'S MIRROR TEAM**_

 _ **A STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE / MY LITTLE PONY FAN-FICTION**_

 _ **WRITTEN IN APPLE PAGES**_

 _ **CHAPTER TWO  
**_ _The Day After_

The next day started off like Orange's normal business days. Orange and her new mirror, Rix, set to work immediately. Jadybug, the mail worker, happened to notice the "second Orange," however, so she questioned Orange about her.  
"Orange, who is this twin you have here?" Jadybug asked her.  
Orange turned to her, a big smile on her face. "She's a mirror. Her name is Rix."  
Jadybug was taken aback in reaction to her statement. "A...mirror?" She gasped, then went over to her. "It's the mirror pool legend, isn't it?" she whispered.  
"I know about it, Jadybug," Orange replied, "but I think I won't make the same mistake Pinkie Pie made."  
"You be careful, Orange Blossom," Jadybug used her full name to show that she wasn't kidding, "because one false move, and the Mane Six'll be forced to clean up this mess, too."  
Just then, Rix came up to them. "I think this is about me."  
Orange turned to her. "It is."

* * *

Later, they went back to work. Rix had finished stocking by the time the rush hour began. Now was the time to really put the mirror to the test. As the customers started clamoring into the store, Orange called for Rix to assist her at the cashier desk. As it turned out, the workload was reduced between them, just as she expected. However, Jadybug sensed something wrong with the new clone. It may not have been evident to Orange yet, but as they both worked, Rix was undergoing a serious internal change that would eventually distance her from being just a mirror of Orange Blossom.

At the end of the day, Rix and Orange were both tired out. They closed the store, showered, and turned in for the night. However, Rix stayed awake. She knew she had to make some changes in order to distance herself from Orange. She made a mental note to head for the other businesses in the city tomorrow morning.

Rix drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 _ **AUTHOR'S NOTE  
**_ _At the time of this chapter, many of my other stories remain unfinished. Personally, I would try to finish these stories with my main machine, but I'm stuck with a Linux box at the moment. which is my backup machine. Hopefully, I might finish up these stories, situation permitting._

 _In the meantime, please read and review._


	4. Making Changes

_**ORANGE BLOSSOM'S MIRROR TEAM  
**_ _ **A STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE / MY LITTLE PONY FANFICTION  
**_ _ **WRITTEN IN APPLE PAGES**_

 _ **CHAPTER THREE  
**_ _Making Changes_

Rix knew that in order to make sure people could tell her apart from Orange, she'd have to make massive changes. With that came her own decision. She had to make sure that the rest of Berry Bitty City could tell them apart. The first thing she had to do: change clothes. The existing outfit would give her away as "another Orange Blossom." She went straight down to Raspberry Torte's Fresh Fashions Boutique to start things off.

Raspberry happened to notice her coming into the building, but she didn't know that it was Rix. "Oh, hi Orange!" she said. Just then, Rix stopped, an perplexed look plastered on her face. "Do you _really_ think I'm her?" she quipped at her. "I may look like her, but I'm not. That's why I'm here. To change up a bit. I'm Rix, a copy of hers."

It was Raspberry's turn to be perplexed. "So...you're the second Orange, huh?" she said to her. "Well, if you really want yourself and Orange to be told apart from one another, you've come to the right place! I'll see if I can get you a new outfit!" With that, Raspberry ran into the back room to start finding a new outfit for Rix.

When she came out, she had a bunch of outfits in hand. One by one, Rix tried them on. Some of them tended to the simple, others were more complex, but then, some of them were outright outrageous! Rix had even thrown some of the outfits away! That led Raspberry to believe she needed to make a brand new outfit for Rix. She told her to wait, and went into the back room.

About an hour later, she came back out with a four-piece outfit in hand. Not too much a dead giveaway, not too shabby, but just right. A light-blue polo, a dark-blue skirt, black sandals, and a white headband with a mirror piece. Rix put on the new outfit, twirled around a couple times, and looked around herself, as if to inspect every bit of her new clothing. She then turned to Raspberry, her face bearing the best smile she's ever done. "I think I like this one," she said. "No wonder you're good at this, Raspberry."

Raspberry blushed at the compliment, and giggled. "Well, I try."

Rix felt that, although the new clothes fit her well, a new hairstyle would also suit her. She bid goodbye to Raspberry, and set off for Lemon Meringue's salon.

* * *

Lemon Meringue had already dismissed another client when Rix came in. "Welcome to the Lemon Salon," she said.

"Good afternoon, Lemon. I'm Rix, a copy of your friend Orange. I need a new haircut. This one'll only give me away as another Orange Blossom, and I don't want confusion between us."

Lemon smiled. "Sit down, Rix. I'll see to it personally."

It took a while, but in the end, Rix wound up with four pigtails in her hair. Lemon and Rix both smiled. "I think I'll keep this one," Rix said.

"I'm glad you like it, Rix," Lemon replied. "Be sure to come again!"

With that, Rix left for the Orange Market. When she arrived, Orange was there, waiting for her. "I see you have a new look for yourself, Rix. And on your second day, too!"

Rix smiled at her. "Well, I thought a new look would help people to tell us apart!"

Orange stood there with a stern look for a moment, then giggled right then and there. "Well, it looks great, Rix! Come on! We have a lot of work to do!"

* * *

Later, the customers wound up getting more winter supplies, due to a winter storm alert that was broadcast earlier. Therefore, the store was yet again crowded, but this time, with more people than last time. Both Orange and Rix worked as fast as they could, but in time, the overload of customers would overwhelm them both. When the day was over, they went to bed.

"I think we may need more mirrors, Orange," Rix said.

"I think so, too, Rix," Orange said back. "One more day of this, and we'll _both_ regret it! We're going back to the Mirror Pool tomorrow, and I'll have Berrykin Bloom manage the store in the meantime."

"That'd be a good idea," Rix said, stifling a yawn.

* * *

 _ **AUTHOR'S NOTE  
**_ _I made up Rix's outfit, however the hairstyle comes from a manga series I read, called Yotsuba &! I think it makes sense for me. Nevertheless, I hope it was worth it, so please R&R._


	5. The Imminent Increase

_**ORANGE BLOSSOM'S MIRROR TEAM  
**_ _ **A STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE / MY LITTLE PONY FAN-FICTION  
**_ _ **WRITTEN IN APPLE PAGES**_

 _ **CHAPTER FOUR  
**_ _The Imminent Increase_

Orange went ahead with her decision to increase the mirrors she used to help her out. The second mirror, Nikal, had quickly drew her own plans to increase productivity at the Orange Mart, however, Orange had to decline. She knew that three people at her general store was quite enough.

The next week went by well, even though crowding made things very difficult. It stayed that way for several weeks. However, this did not come unnoticed by Berry Bitty City's population. People had later started to come over just to see the mirrors. They were delighted, to say the least.

Late one night, Rix and Nikal decided to talk to one another about their newfound situation. They were in the town square.

"Well, Rix, I hope this is good," Nikal began. "This whole publicity thing may take up a lot of our time."

Rix thought for a moment. "I know. I was thinking. What if we made a colony?"

"A mirror colony, you say?"

"Yes, Nikal, a mirror colony. We can go back to the mirror pool and make more copies. Then, we can get out of here and establish a colony of our own. Our own society."

Nikal was skeptical about this new plan. "What about Orange, huh? The store? Herfriends? She's not going to allow it. She made a mistake when taking care of that tadpole. What do you think she'll do to you if she finds out!?"

"Oh, come on, Nikal," Rix shot back. "It's not like she's gonna waltz up to us and tell us no..." She then felt a shiver down her spine. "She's right behind me, isn't she?"

Nikal nodded to her, and pointed. When Rix turned around, Orange was there, with a smug look on her face. She gulped.

"Rix," Orange began, "you know I'm not going to pull a Pinkie Pie on this. I'm not about to start now. This is a trial run, and you know it!"

"But..."

"Butts are for ashtrays, Rix," Orange retorted. "You are not to make another copy until I give the all-clear. Is that understood?

Rix was shocked. Her own plan shut down before it even begins? Preposterous! She hung her head. "Yes, ma'am," she replied.

Orange was satisfied at that point. "Good. Both of you need to go back to bed, now. We've got a busy, busy day tomorrow."

* * *

A busy day was just what the next day brought forth for Orange and her two copies. Rix and Nikal worked at their cashier posts for hours on end. Before long, the crowd was under control, and the flow of customers was going smoothly. But that didn't deter Rix from her own plans. She knew that the more copies there were, the better the situation would be. However, Orange wouldn't allow it, at least at the expense of the moment, as she thought. Based on this, she'd have to deviate from what Orange said, and go ahead anyway.

That night, she went back to the Everfree Forest, and thus, to the mirror pool.

She made the chant, and out came another copy. And another. And another.

Soon, the copies starting coming in big batches. The copies, as Rix noticed, didn't know much of anything, other than the fact that they were just made. Rix decided to put a stop to the copying, knowing full well that this would definitely be unthinkable. Luckily, she brought some books with her. They ranged in subjects from fashion design to electrical work. She started explaining things to the new copies. They paid some attention to what was being said. However, at the moment, Orange Blossom was headed to the mirror pool as well. When she came in and saw what Rix was doing, she stopped dead in her tracks. Rix was operating a mess of copies like a school classroom full of students!

That was it. Orange would never get mad at her friends, but this was taking things too far in her books. She knew that if she didn't take control fast, things would emulate the scenario Pinkie Pie made several years prior. This was the final straw. "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?" she shouted at the assembly before her. Rix and the new copies looked at Orange with a mix of shock and horror. Rix tried to explain, but Orange would have none of it.

"Rix," she began, "you know that I won't do something on this grand a scale. People just aren't ready for this! This many copies? Things would get suspicious real fast! I've heard Twilight Sparkle had to have nearly a hundred-something copies watch paint dry, just to find the right one!" Rix was flabbergasted by what she heard. She stepped back, staggered, and began to literally melt in front of her. In minutes, she was a puddle of water from the mirror pool, which quickly retreated back into the pool, emotion and sheer trouble finally having taken her first copy down. Orange knew at that moment that she herself had also taken things too far. "Where did I go wrong this time?" she thought. "I thought I could use some help at the store. How do I get myself out of this one?" Then, it hit her like a ton of bricks. Rix was able to control the assembly of copies by herself, something that Pinkie Pie couldn't. It was then that she decided to continue what Rix inadvertently started.

* * *

 _ **AUTHOR'S NOTE  
**_ _This chapter was in limbo for quite a while, but luckily, I managed to finish it when the new year began. I hope it was worth the wait. Please read and review!_


	6. Epilogue - Consolidation and Separation

_**ORANGE BLOSSOM'S MIRROR TEAM  
**_ _ **A STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE / MY LITTLE PONY FAN-FICTION  
**_ _ **WRITTEN IN APPLE PAGES**_

 _ **EPILOGUE  
**_ _The Consolidation and Separation_

 **ONE MONTH LATER...**

Most of Orange's copies had made their place in Berry Bitty City. Partially due to the unexpected surge done by Rix, and partially to Orange having made the choice to make the mirror colonies herself, in spite of decisions to the contrary, there was now a population of 1,500 mirrors in Berry Bitty City. The city was getting very crowded. Some mirrors were wandering around with nothing to do. Orange decided that if the city got even more crowded, things would get really bad. The first mirror colony was still in the opening stages of construction, so the buildings and infrastructure needed for the new colony to run wasn't finished yet. She decided to build a shelter for the new copies. The berrykins helped her out, and so did some of her mirrors. The new shelter was finished within a few weeks, and with that, the crowding problem was taken care of for the moment.

In addition, two of her mirrors were set up at the mirror pool's entrance as guards. They were to admit people in only when it was extremely necessary. This was done as a security measure, to avoid any unwanted mirroring. However, this didn't stop the mirror population from increasing. After three weeks, the mirror population had tripled.

 **THREE MONTHS LATER...**

The first of the new colonies was up and running, and as a result, the population of Orange's mirror clones in Berry Bitty City started to decline. The colony was capable of holding business, housing, and recreation for 10,000 mirrors. As would be expected in this type of situation, Twilight Sparkle came to Berry Bitty City and took notice of what was going on. To her, this was another Pinkie Pie scenario, but with much more control and decency than Pinkie Pie's version. Twilight decided to establish surveillance not just in Berry Bitty City, but in the new mirror colony, just to be sure that anything couldn't go wrong.

 **SIX MONTHS LATER...**

The mirror population had increased in size on a grand scale. Two more colonies were established in order to make more room. By the time the mirrors moved into those colonies, the rate at which the mirror population was increasing was starting to decline, much to the amazement of Strawberry Shortcake and her friends. Orange Blossom was proud of what she achieved, despite previous thoughts against it. And with that, she felt that this would be the beginning of the biggest undertaking in Berryland's history.

One day, Twilight Sparkle decided to visit Orange Blossom. She felt that it was time to have a discussion.

"I've heard of your luck in controlling all those copies," Twilight began. "I've never seen someone execute something like this before!"

"Well, when you start making copies, you're like a copying machine," Orange said to her. "You don't stop until you're out of toner."

"But I never thought you'd be able to do something on such a big scale as this. I came down here to check up on your progress," Twilight said, knowing what was really going on.

"Well, I think we're doing fine, Twilight," Orange said. Just then, Nikal came through the door. She had stayed with Orange after Rix's death.

"Orange, phone for you. The western colony. Tam wants to know if the city will provide aid," she said.

"That's the second time this month!" Orange stood up and went to the back room with Nikal, Twilight quickly following. It was going to be a very hard road from here on out.

But it was going to be part of the biggest undertaking ever.

And it all started with a legend. The legend of the mirror pool.

 _ **THE END...FOR NOW.**_

* * *

 _ **AUTHOR'S NOTE  
**_ _This chapter was initially planned to be Chapter 5, with the next chapter being the epilogue, but I felt that I had to end this story here. At this point, I think I'm going to delve deeper into the mirror colonies and publish each new related story as an "expansion pack" to this one. But, for now, consider this your first full story._


End file.
